Family Responsibility of Tabligh Jamaat in Medan, North Sumatra

Jamaluddin and Abu Bakar

Lecturer of Faculty of Islamic Religion, Universitas Islam Sumatera Utara, Medan

Keywords: Khuruj, responsibility, living.

Abstract:

Tabligh Jamaat in the city of Medan is one of the groups, different from any other groups, conducting

specific Islamic preaching or da’wah by enticing Muslims to reside around a mosque for congregational

prayers. This activity is one of the implementations of khuruj teachings they refer to. By practicing khuruj,

they leave their family for days, weeks and even months, and consequently pass their family unnoticed and

abandoned. This study is focused on tracking the real understanding of Tabligh Jamaat on family

responsibility. The purpose of this study was to assess and explain the understanding of Tabligh Jamaat

Islamic Law on family responsibility in Medan. The research result shows that the Tabligh Jamaat have an

understanding that providing a living is obligatory for a husband. In the understanding of Tabligh Jamaat a

living is divided into two: the first is Jahir living in the forms of clothing, food and shelter. The second is

mental living covering religious values of monotheism, jurisprudence, morality and some other points

having the nature of uplifting the family.

1 INTRODUCTION

The rise of religious activities in Medan lately is a

social phenomenon quite interesting to observe, as

most of the religious organizations are enthused by

various communities, showing enthusiasm in

spreading the mission of Islam. This phenomenon is

easy to spot because of their physical performance in

religious symbolization, commonly different from

most of the Islamic societies in general.

Along with the dynamics of society and the

continual growing demands of the times, preaching,

as an effort of socialization and internalization of

Islamic teachings, is also progressing in matters of

method, strategy and model. Historically, the

development of preaching in Medan is performed by

religious social organizations, such as Al-Washliyah,

Muhammadiyah, Nahdlatul Ulama, al-Ittihadiyah,

the Muslim Brotherhood, Salafi, Hizbut Tahrir

(HTI), Majlis Tafsir of the Qur'an (MTA) and the

Jamaat Tabligh (JT). The styles of the religious

movements are diverse. Some are oriented to

political struggle, purification and revivalism, the

interpretation of the Qur'an, social, religion and

education, some others to unisex preaching

movement such as Tabligh Jamaat.

Based on the fact found by the researchers, some

families left in time of khuruj do not have enough

money to support their livings. Some families of

Tablighi Jamaat have to take loans to meet their

livings and even some of the children have got some

hindrances in schools as they do not have enough

attention from their parents. All of this is caused by

the lack of money left by the husbands in time of

khuruj (Abu Muhammad and Ahmad Abduh, 2008;

Ali Mubarak, 1374). The same idea is proposed by

some religious scholars stating that many families

are abandoned and unnoticed because of this

problem. The main issue is the money left is not

enough to meet all the needs. The consequences go

around the same circle that they have no enough

money to support all the needs of the families when

the husbands are away for khuruj (

Cholid Narbuko

and Abu Achmadi, 2009; Moegni, 1979; Departemen

Pendidikan dan Kebudayaan, 1996).

On the other hand, everyone should understand

that it is not easy to be a husband having such a big

responsibility to support the family. All the needs,

such as those of physics and spirituality, are to be

fulfilled proportionally.

Allah says in Surah an-Nisa ': 34;

Meaning: Men are in charge of women because

Allah has preferred some of them (men) on some

others (female) and because they (men) have spent

out of their possessions.

The above verse shows that husband is the

person in charge to provide a living. Therefore, this

Jamaluddin, . and Bakar, A.

Family Responsibility of Tabligh Jamaat in Medan, North Sumatra.

DOI: 10.5220/0008885603870393

In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Multidisciplinary Research (ICMR 2018) - , pages 387-393

ISBN: 978-989-758-437-4

387

verse is put into the point of oblig ation that to make

a living must be borne by a husband to his wife and

family (Ibnu Katsir, 2006).

In the conception of Tablighi Jamaat, a person

will be considered a follower of Tablighi Jamaat, if

he has already participated in khuruj. Khuruj for

Jamaah Tabligh is an obligation and is the

culmination of the teachings (

Salehuddin, 2015). In

this regard, the practice of khuruj conducted by

Tablighi Jamaat of Medan tends to leave most of the

obligations, and this is not in accordance with

Islamic law understanding on the necessity of

providing a living by a husband to the family left.

Based on the previous illustrations, it is certainly

interesting to do a research related to the

understanding of Tablighi Jamaat Islamic law on the

family responsibility in Medan because, so far, the

problem of family negligence in most of the families

of Tablighi Jamaat is a well-known practice, but no

special study as well as boon on this problem has

ever been carried out or written.

2 RESEARCH METHOD

This is a field research, giving a focus on

observation and data collection from the field.

The source of data consists of two parts. The first

is primary data taken directly from the objects in

the field by directly taking the data as the main

source of information to be obtained. The primary

data is decisive in this research because the

writers are much inclined to the data such as

important documents of Tablighi Jamaat, books

made as the guideliness of Tablighi Jamaat, and

bulletin released by Tablighi Jamaat. The key

informants are the leaders (syura) of Tablighi

Jamaat of Medan. The second is the secondary data,

taken from other parties, those which are not taken

directly from the research objects. The secondary

data are books written by the third parties related to

Tablighi Jamaat, viewpoints of the relatives, and

neighbours of Tablighi Jamaat and also religious

leaders.

In this study the writers used descriptive

analytical method and the analytical process begins

by analyzing all available data from various sources,

such as interviews, documentation and data obtained

from literature. Data reduction is done, that is the

data obtained in the field are summarized by

selecting related issues systematically into the data

that are specifically related to the issues discussed

(Komariah, 2001). Analytic descriptive describes the

implementation, in this case focused on the

understanding the Tablighi Jamaat Islamic law on

family responsibility in Medan.

3 DEFINITIONS OF

RESPONSIBILITY

Responsibility, according to General Indonesian

Dictionary, is a state of obligation to bear

everything; obliged to bear any form of obligation or

to give responsibility and take the consequence of

responsibility (Komariah, 2001).

Various types of responsibilities are as follows:

1. Responsibility and Individual

2. Responsibility and freedom

3. Social Responsibility

4. Responsibility towards others.

5. Responsibility and risk.

4 RESPONSIBILITY OF

HUSBAND IN THE

PERSPECTIVE OF ISLAMIC

LAW

The mahzab scholars agree that there are three forms

of living that are mandatory for a huband to fulfill:

food, clothing and shelter. They also agree that the

size of living depends on the state of both parties. If

the husband and wife are financially strong then the

livings are to be adjusted according to their strong

finance, and if they are poor, the livings should be

adjusted according to their financial standing.

Basically, a living must be provided by a husband to

his wife. It is based on the Koran, hadith and ijma

'(agreement of scholars or ulama). To clarify the

legal basis of this, the writers will present some

verses, hadith and ijma 'as follows:

a. The commandments of Allah SWT in the

Koran are:

Meaning: men are the leaders of women,

because Allah has preferred some of them

(men) on some others (female), and because

they (men) have spent out of their possessions.

Therefore, the virtuous woman must be

obedient to God, and take care of her chastity

when the husband is away because God has

kept (them) women whom you fear of their

disobedience (faithless), therefore you must

admonish them and send them to their beds and

beat them. Then if they obey you, seek not a

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388

way against them. Allah is Most High, Most

Great. (Q.S. An-Nisa`: 34).

In the above verse, the scholars agree that al-

mas'ul (object) that is intended on living is the

obligation of the husband. Therefore, this verse

becomes an obligatory rule that the living for

the wife and family is to be the responsibility

of the husband.

b. Words of the Prophet, such as:

In a story narrated by Imam Muslim from the

source of the companion Jabir bin Abdullah,

the Prophet said:

Meaning: The Messenger of Allah said: "Dinar

(treasure) which ye spend in the way of Allah

and dinar (treasure) which ye give to a female

slave, and the dinar which you donate to the

poor and the dinar you spend to your family;

so, the greatest reward is the one you spend for

your family. " (Muslim No.1661) (

Muammal

Hamidi, 1993)

In another narration narrated by many hadith

narrators from 'Aisha r.a., Messenger of Allah

said:

Meaning: "From 'Aisha: Hind actually said:

Messenger of Allah: Abu Sufyan (her husband)

is stingy. He did not provide enough income

for me and my son, unless I take from him

without his knowledge. Then he answered:

Take what is sufficient for you and your child

in a way that is ma'ruf "(as enough as possible).

(HR. Al Jama'ah).

Imam Ash-Syaukaniy in his book al-Authar

Nail explained that the above hadith becomes a

rule, the obligation for the husband to provide

his wife and children (his family), and this is

already a consensus among the Mujtahid (the

law experts).

The livings to be provided by the husband are as

follows:

1. Food and Clothing

2. Dwelling Place

3. Education of Children

4. Medical Treatment Cost

5. Spiritual Living

6. Spiritual needs.

5 TABLIGHI JAMAAT PROFILE

IN MEDAN

Tablighi Jamaat is a group of Muslims who look

exclusive, dressed like the tradition of the Arabs

with long cassock (mostly white), white hat called

lobe wear and lengthened beard.

They usually stay in the mosque they visit for

four days or more for preaching. They conduct

jaulah, visit Muslim houses located around the

mosque and invite the Muslims around the mosque

to pray in congregation. After the congregational

prayers, one of them would give lectures and mostly

the lecturer is not free, but bound to reading a book,

named Himpunan Fadillah by Maulana Muhammad

Zakariyya Al-Kandahlawi that has been translated

into Indosesian. During their stay in the mosque,

they perform religious activities, namely zikir or

remembrance, tahajud, and read Koran and others to

get closer to Allah swt.

Their activities are very intense in the mosque,

and they almost spend 70% of their time to convey

knowledge to other people. In additions, they also

hold nightly astral conjunction or Ijtima (gathering),

where the Itjima will be filled with Bayan (religious

services) by religious teachers or ulama or guests

from abroad who are doing khuruj there, and also

ta'lim wa ta'alum. They usually invite preachers

outside of the area to give lectures at the mosque

during the congregation activities.

For the members of Tablighi who happen to be

working in an institution and bound to time, still

khuruj cannot be ignored. The point is they have to

be sincere or ikhlas. Sincerity is embedded among

the members of Tabligh Jamaat. For those who

happen to be bound by the work time, they can

conduct the khuruj three days a month. For instance,

they leave on Friday afternoon after the work till

Monday morning and they do not have to be back

home; they could directly go to their work. By this

way, they do not have to forget their work. They are

active in managing their time in this matter.

They never neglect the khuruj though some of

them work as employees and are tied to work time.

But any time they have got some free time, they

would do their khuruj. Tablighi Jamaat do not

matter the congreation; the essence is they are loyal

in carrying out the congregaional activities.

Transnational Islamic missionary movement

proposed by Muhammad Ilyas, founded in 1926 is

the first entrance to the city of Medan in 1970

brought directly by the Indians to the mosque of

Islamiyah Hidayatul on Jalan Gajah located in

Medan. The mosque is the center of Tablighi

Jamaat's coordination area of Medan and North

Sumatra. Here, in the mosque, the members of

Tablighi Jamaat who come from various areas in

North Sumatra and even from outside Sumatra, for

example, from Papua, Aceh and others are

Family Responsibility of Tabligh Jamaat in Medan, North Sumatra

389

gathering. Ustaz H. Badruddin Amir, the Amir or

Syura also resides next to the mosque. Under his

coordination, members of Tablighi Jamaat will go to

foreign countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh

and others.

Tablighi Jamaat in Medan city do not have an

organizational structure like other groups, however,

their activities do not walk alone, but there is

someone, the elder and considered more experienced

to coordinate the activities and he is referred to as

Amir or Syura. That is why their numbers cannot be

known with certainty but the number is quite a lot in

Medan city, and perhaps the number has reached to

hundreds.

Tablighi Jamaat in the city of Medan are not

bound by any streams or specific schools. Tablighi

Jamaat accept anyone who is willing to join the

preaching or dakwah and invite people to the path of

God. In addition to the Quranic verse or Hadith

asking to preach, they also have certain teachings

known teachings of six points (six teachings) and

one of the teachings is preaching or dakwah, which

is obligatory (asking and informing) (Komariah,

2001) and this is done by conducting khuruj (going

out) from the place where a person resides.

6 TERMS TO CONDUCT

KHURUJ

According to the teachings of Tablighi Jamaat, one

is obliged to do khuruj (going out) to preach out for

four months once in a lifetime, 40 days in each year,

three days every month, or twice around each week

to settle from one mosque to another in different

areas. To do khuruj every member of Tablighi

Jamaat should meet the following terms.

1. Righteous intention

Tablighi Jamaat members who want to do

khuruj must install the righteous intention;

meaning to have sincere intention merely a

wish to seek the blessing of Allah SWT.

Righteous intention and being sincere to preach

and help the religion of Allah will help a

person to be facilitated by God in all his affairs.

They cite Quranic verse,

Meaning: O ye who believe, if you strive to

defend Islam, Allah will help you and affirm

your steps. (Qs. Muhammad: 7)

If someone has already got a genuine intention

to preach or convey religious messages, then

all the family matters are to be submitted to

Allah SWT; it is Allah SWT who will keep and

maintain his family. This refers to the events of

Prophet Ibrahim who left his wife Siti Hajar

with her child Ishmael in the barren desert

(Mecca) and he returned after her son got adult.

The Word of God:

Meaning: O Our God, indeed I had put parts of

my offspring in a valley that has no plants near

your houses (Baitullah) the one respected, Oh

our God (as such) that they establish the

prayer, then make the hearts of some people

tend to them and give them living of fruits,

hopefully they are grateful (Qs. Ibrahim: 37).

Although the natural conditions at the time was

not conducive to human life, but it is Allah

who helped to the survival of Siti Hajar with

her son Ishmael as (oocities.org, 2013).

Tablighi Jamaat members of Medan do a lot of

khuruj to preach on fi sabilillah (in the cause of

Allah) for weeks and some even leave their

families for months. The practice done by

Tablighi Jamaat is identical to what was once

done by the Prophet. With nine wives, children

and grandchildren, but the family did not

prevent him from spreading the religion. The

same thing ever conducted by the companions

of the Prophet who left the family for months

to do Islamiyah preaching.

2. Having sufficient funds for travel destination

and living for the family, wives and children

left.

Readiness for all the budgets should be told

transparently before Syura or Amir. Points to

be asked by Amir or Syura will be around the

funds to be used for the travelling and the

family left. All should be adjusted to the

travelling condition covering the duration and

destination. If the budget is not enough, the

person concerned would be given to another

place according to the budget. This is based on

the view that the family is not to be neglected

as giving a living to the family is mandatory

and if not will be considered sinful. Some other

questions to be given by Amir are about the

jobs and family.

3 Readiness costs and funds held for khuruj of

Tablighi Jamaat which will be delivered

openly and in detail in the presence of Shura or

Amir

Things asked by Amir or Shura is about Amwal

(assets) related to the issue of costs, covering

those during the trip and to the families left. All

were adjusted to the length for which he would

go out and areas that will be addressed. If funds

are insufficient for the areas that will be

ICMR 2018 - International Conference on Multidisciplinary Research

390

addressed, he will look for other areas

corresponding to the amount of funds

available. This is done to anticipate that

families left are not neglected because they

consider obligatory to provide the needs of the

families left. Besides, they also consider that it

is a mistake and considered a sin if they do not

provide their living needs. Another thing asked

by the Shura is ahwal (condition) of Tablighi

Jamaat related to family, work and others

associated with the pilgrims who will perform

khuruj. In the implementation of this khuruj,

Tabliqis group will form tafaqqud, a team

whose task is to monitor the families of

Tablighi Jamaat doing khuruj. The team will

visit to the homes of members of Tablighi

Jamaat doing khuruj. If the khuruj is done for

40 days or months, the tafaqqud team will

make a visit once a week. The Team will come

with their wives. The men will not enter the

houses of the members doing the khuruj so that

they bring their wives to know more about the

family members left. To visit is to know the

condition of the family left and if the fund

given is not enough, the financial needs of the

family left will be given by the team. The

members will usually help one another. The

team will also see the health condition, security

and some other things of the family left for

khuruj. The visit aims to find out whether the

living cost left is still sufficient or has run out.

This is done as a manifestation of solidarity

and mutual help among members of Jamaah

Tabligh. Tafaqqud team see the state of the

bereaved family, health problems, security and

others.

4. Sometime, the family members of Tablighi

Jamaat are displaced when the husband is

away for khuruj. This unexpected incident may

happen, if the husband does not adhere to the

rules to be attended by those who wish to do

khuruj.

The jamaah does not tell the real things to

Amir; probably he is ashamed, or his desire to

do khuruj is higher than his capability, and

finally he gives up everything to Allah SWT.

This means that the husband does not do any

coordination with Amir (Interview with Amir

on 25 October 2015).

5. A member of Tablighi Jamaat who wants to do

khuruj should ask permission from his wife. If

there is a sign of objection from the wife, the

husband should give a good understanding that

khuruj is obligatory and also a demand of

religion that must be fully supported.

As a matter of fact, the wives of members of

Tablighi Jamaat give permission to their

husbands and even some urge their husbands to

do khuruf to preach on religious matters.

7 LAW UNDERSTANDING OF

TABLIGHI JAMAAT ON

FAMILY RESPONSIBILITY

7.1 Responsibilities of Husband in

Zahir Livelihood Issues

As has been described above that a husband who

would do da'wah (khuruj) has to leave a living for

his wife and children. They argue that providing a

living for the family left in order to preach is

obligatory. It means that if he does not provide a

living to the family members left, he has made a

mistake. Based on the interviews done by the

researchers, it is stated that according to Tablighi

Jamaat, providing a living is mandatory and is the

responsibility of the husband.

The same information is also obtained from

Syuro or Amir who states that providing a living

consisting of wife and children is obligatory and all

should be adjusted to the needs of the family, and

because of this any member of the Jamaat is not

allowed to do khuruj if he cannot provide a living to

his family.

However, the researchers observed that some

members of Tablighi Jamaat give priority to inner

living, and it does not mean leaving the obligation to

provide a living of Jahir at all, but they are trying to

gain ascetic life in which they work merely for the

needs. This ascetic attitude is to follow and imitate

the Prophet Muhammad and his companions. The

asceticism of Prophet and the companions are an

epitome to attend.

7.2 Responsibilities of Husband in

Inner Livelihood Issues

The inner living according to the understanding of

Tablighi Jamaat is a spiritual living form of

understanding religious values that should be given

to the wife and children. Religious values are

cultivating the values of faith (tauhid), theology and

sharia (laws) relating to obligatory things, optional

obligation, prohibition, optionality or permissibality.

The inner living according to the understanding of

Family Responsibility of Tabligh Jamaat in Medan, North Sumatra

391

the Tablighi Jamaat is more important than the

livings of Jahir, i.e. those in the form of clothing,

food and other outward nature (Interview with

Gazali, Wandi, Mansur on 17 and 24 October 2015;

Malik on 28 October 2015 and Kliwon on 16

November 2015).

If this inner living is not met, this is the cause of

a household clutter and the house will be away from

the blessings of Allah SWT. The Word of Allah

SWT:

Meaning: "O ye who believe, guard yourselves

and your families from a Fire of Hell (Qs. At-

Tahrim: 6).

During the revealation of the verse above, Umar

bin Khattab asked Rasulullah Saw, The Messenger

of God, O Rasululah we have kept ourselves, how to

maintain our family? The Prophet said: "You

prevent it from those prohibited by Allah and tell

them, to do what is commanded by Allah. That

would prevent them from the fire of hell (Resume of

Speech of Mr. M. Nasir on 1 November 2015).

The biological relationship problems (jima') to

the wife is not an obligation. They argue that doing

jima' to the wife is not an obligation. Husband could

do jima' whenever he wants and has the opportunity

and ability. If the husband does not have the ability

or do not have the opportunity to do so, the wife is

required to be patient. Here lies the role of the values

of faith that must be imparted to the wife. The

Prophet says sourced from Aby Zar:

It means: "do jima' to your wife is charity. (H.R.

Muslim).

Some members of Tablighi Jamaat in the city of

Medan have been impressed to leave family

responsibilities for months. Based on the

researchers’ observation, the members of Tablighi

Jamaat consider that it is a normative doctrine. It

means that it is as a result of the influence of the

norms of Islamic law that is still inherent but, in its

practice unconsciously influenced by reason

(creativity), emation (feeling) and will (intention)

are quite high and excessive. If the excessive

influence of these three things are big, it will cause

people's judgment of religion to be unreasonable.

Excessive actions that have been done by Tablighi

Jamaat to leave the family resulting the negligence

of other obligations, such as children's education and

compassion do not get any impression. Even this

action may cause them lose their job which

constitutes the source of economic support.

However, it is found that some Tablighi Jamaat

willingly quit his job in order to do khuruj. This

happens since they are of the view that the inner

living inner takes precedence over the Jahir

livelihood.

Jamaah Tabligh in the city of Medan is a portrait

of Tablighi Jamaat in Indonesia whose roles keep

developing, and whose number does growing more

and more. The existence of Tablighi Jamaat in the

city of Medan has a significant role to encourage

Muslims to pray in congregation at the mosque.

They do not feel offended if some invited do not

want to follow them or even some give blasphemous

remarks because they consider that they carry an

obligation that must be carried out.

8 CONCLUSION

Tablighi Jamaat in the city of Medan is a portrait of

Tablighi Jamaat in Indonesia coming to Medan in

1970, and directly going to the mosque of Hidayatul

Islamiyah on Jalan Gajah. They have the

understanding that every member of Tablighi

Jamaat should do khuruj to leave the family.

However, they still leave a living for the family,

because they are of the view that giving a living to

the family is obligatory. However, the inner living

form of religious values is more important than the

Jahir living; in the form of food and clothing.

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